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USCIS Suspends Premium Processing Service for H-1B Petition FY 2019 Visa Cap

Tiyalaw — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 22:47:30 +0000

USCIS Suspends Premium Processing Service for H-1B Petition FY 2019 Visa Cap

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has just announced that it will be suspending premium processing service, temporarily, for all cap-subject H-1B petitions, starting April 2, 2018. This suspension is expected to last until September 10, 2018. Currently, this suspension applies only to H-1B petitions that are subject to Fiscal Year (FY) 2019.

H-1B employers will be eligible to submit H-1B petitions subject to FY 2019 visa cap to be received by USCIS on April 2, 2018. With this temporary suspension, USCIS will reject any Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Services, filed with H-1B petitions that are subject to FY 2019 visa cap.

The reason for this premium-processing suspension is so that USCIS may adjudicate other H-1B petitions that have been long pending.

With a premium processing service, USCIS will adjudicate a petition within 15 calendar days from its receipt (e.g. approval, request for evidence or denial within 15 days). With this temporarily suspension, there will be processing delay for FY 2019 H-1B cap petitions/visas. This means, it will be some months before USCIS will be able to adjudicate H-1B petitions subject to FY 2019 visa cap that are fortunate enough to be selected in the H-1B lottery process.

March 20, 2018

This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as legal advice or attorney-client relationship. By Aik Wan Kok, Lawyer USA Immigration Services, at Tiya; Tel: 703-772-8224 & info at tiyaimmigration dot com; Direct dial from abroad: 001-703-772-8224; https://www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; https://immigrationresource.net

Need help with green card, work visas, work permit, sponsoring family, sponsoring employees, sponsoring relatives, hardships or immigration waivers, U.S. naturalization/citizenship, and cases with USCIS, Department of Labor or immigration? We represent employers, companies, individuals, and families in U.S. Immigration & Nationality Law. Our clients are based nationwide in the U.S. and internationally. We represent diverse immigration cases including, but are not limiting to: extraordinary ability; national interest waiver; PERM with U.S. Department of Labor; I-130 for sponsoring relatives and families; I-140 for employment green card; I-485 to adjust status; I-765 work permit/employment authorization; I-131 for international travel and returning to the U.S; I-601 extreme hardship waiver relatives of U.S. citizen or green card holder; I-751 joint filing or waiver; N-400 Naturalization/Citizenship; N-648 Medical Waiver; I-212 waiver for deportation or removal order; J waiver; H-1B professional worker/specialty occupation; H-2B temporary worker; L executive, manager and specialized knowledge professional transferring from overseas; E treaty investors/traders; B-1 business visitor to the U.S.; B-2 visitor to the U.S.; F-1 student coming to study in the U.S.; matters pertaining to consular processing with U.S. consulates and National Visa Centers; cases with USCIS; cases with U.S. Department of Labor; PERM audit; RFE Request for Evidence (RFE); NOID Notice of Intention to Deny (NOID); and many more.

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USCIS Bangkok Field Office in Thailand Will Close for a Day on May 2, 2016

Tiyalaw — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 23:29:08 +0000

USCIS Bangkok Field Office in Thailand Will Close for a Day on May 2, 2016

U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) adjudicates most immigration cases. USCIS offices are mostly based in the U.S., with some offices abroad.

USCIS Bangkok Field Office will close for maintenance on Monday, May 2, 2016. It will resume operations during normal business hours on Tuesday, May 3, 2016. Its regular business hours are from 8:30 a.m. to noon, from Mondays to Fridays. It closes on Thai and American holidays.

The May 2, 2016 closure information is important because USCIS Bangkok has jurisdiction over many U.S. immigration matters for the Asia/Pacific District, covering countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, East Timor, Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong.

USCIS Bangkok accepts walk-ins on a first-come, first-serve basis. Government filing fee for immigration petitions and applications is payable at the U.S. Embassy’s cashier with either a Visa or MasterCard, or in cash with U.S. dollars or Thai baht.

This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as legal advice or attorney-client relationship. By Aik Wan Kok, Lawyer USA Immigration Services, at Tiya; Tel: 703-772-8224 & koka at tiyalaw dot com; Direct dial from abroad: 001-703-772-8224; https://www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ;https://immigrationresource.net

Need help with green card, work visas, work permit, sponsoring family, sponsoring employees, sponsoring relatives, hardship waivers, marriage waiver, and cases with USCIS, Department of Labor or immigration? We represent employers, companies, individuals and families in U.S. Immigration & Nationality Law. Our clients are based within the U.S. and internationally. We represent diverse immigration cases in naturalization/citizenship, green card, work visas, waiver and other immigration matters. Some of our cases including, but are not limiting, extraordinary ability; national interest waiver; PERM with Department of Labor; I-130 for sponsoring relatives and families (child, spouse, brother, sister, stepchild); I-140 for employment; I-485 to adjust status; I-765 work permit/employment authorization; I-131 for international travel and returning to the U.S; I-601 extreme hardship waiver for spouse, parent, son and/or daughter or child of U.S. citizen or green card holder; I-751 joint filing or waiver; I-212 waiver for deportation or removal order; J waiver; H-1B professional worker/specialty occupation; H-2B temporary worker; L executive, manager and specialized knowledge professional transferring from overseas; B-1 business visitor to the U.S.; B-2 tourist visiting the U.S.; F-1 student coming to study in the U.S.; consular processing with U.S. consulates; consular processing via National Visa Centers; filing cases with the USCIS; filing cases with the U.S. Department of Labor; PERM audit; RFE Request for Evidence by USCIS; NOID Notice of Intention to Deny from USCIS; and Immigration Courts.

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USCIS Reaches 2017 H-1B Visa Cap/Quota

Tiyalaw — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 00:58:20 +0000

USCIS Reaches 2017 H-1B Visa Cap/Quota

H-1B Annual Work Visa Cap

On April 1, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting H-1B Cap Petitions for the annual 65,000 government-mandated cap for the 2017 fiscal year (FY), and the 20,000 exemption for H-1B under the U.S. advanced degree. On April 7, 2016, USCIS had received more than sufficient H-1B Cap Petitions to meet the cap. Due to the overwhelming numbers of H-1B Cap Petitions received, USCIS is not yet certain when it will conduct its computer-generated random selection process (lottery).

Those under U.S. advanced degree not selected within the 20,000 visa numbers will be processed under random selection for the 65,000 limit.

For prior H-1B cap-seasons, USCIS began premium processing for selected H-1B Cap cases a few weeks after April 1.

What is an H-1B?

H-1B petitions are temporary work visas for positions requiring theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields for qualified foreign nationals to live and work in the U.S. Many H-1B foreign nationals have successfully gone on to apply for and obtain lawful permanent residence status (also known as, green card).

Foreign nationals with at least a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent (equivalent degree and/or work experience) may be sponsored for H-1B petitions. A broad range of positions may fall under H-1B specialty occupations, and each case depends on a position’s own set of circumstances necessitating complex legal analysis.

Some H-1Bs Are Not Subject to H-1B Annual Work Visa Cap

Not all H-1B petitions are subject to annual visa cap, depending on the types of H-1B petition being filed, or the types of entity-sponsor. For examples, foreign nationals who already have approved H-1B petitions or H-1B status may still have H-1B petitions filed for them to extend their H-1B status, or to change or add H-1B employers.

Duration of H-1B

In general, H-1B petitions/work visas are approved for three years each time (up to a total of 6 years). Under certain circumstances, H-1B work visas can be extended beyond the 6-year maximum time limitation.

H-1Bs Not Selected or Filed When All H-1B Annual Work Visas Are Used Up

Potential H-1B candidates who do not make it to the Fiscal Year 2017 H-1B visa quota (October 1, 2016 employment start-date or later) have the options to have their H-1B cap petitions submitted or resubmitted to USCIS on or after April 1, 2017 (October 1, 2017 employment start-date or later) for the Fiscal Year 2018 H-1B visa quota. They can also consider other immigration options such as other nonimmigrant work status and self-petition green card filings, if eligible.

This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as legal advice or attorney-client relationship. By Aik Wan Kok, Lawyer USA Immigration Services, at Tiya; Tel: 703-772-8224 & koka at tiyalaw dot com; Direct dial from abroad: 001-703-772-8224; https://www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; https://immigrationresource.net

Need help with green card, work visas, work permit, sponsoring family, sponsoring employees, sponsoring relatives, hardship waivers, marriage waiver, and cases with USCIS, Department of Labor or immigration? We represent employers, companies, individuals and families in U.S. Immigration & Nationality Law. Our clients are based within the U.S. and internationally. We represent diverse immigration cases in naturalization/citizenship, green card, work visas, waiver and other immigration matters. Some of our cases including, but are not limiting, extraordinary ability; national interest waiver; PERM with Department of Labor; I-130 for sponsoring relatives and families (child, spouse, brother, sister, stepchild); I-140 for employment; I-485 to adjust status; I-765 work permit/employment authorization; I-131 for international travel and returning to the U.S; I-601 extreme hardship waiver for spouse, parent, son and/or daughter or child of U.S. citizen or green card holder; I-751 joint filing or waiver; I-212 waiver for deportation or removal order; J waiver; H-1B professional worker; H-2B temporary worker; L executive, manager and specialized knowledge professional transferring from overseas; B-1 business visitor to the U.S.; B-2 tourist visiting the U.S.; F-1 student coming to study in the U.S.; consular processing with U.S. consulates; consular processing via National Visa Centers; filing cases with the USCIS; filing cases with the U.S. Department of Labor; PERM audit; RFE Request for Evidence by USCIS; NOID Notice of Intention to Deny from USCIS; and Immigration Courts.